“When we’re playing in shorts and it’s tag we’re OK,” Dantonio said. “Today I’d say we need to get a lot better. I’m sure I’ll watch the film tomorrow and say that was good and this is better and that type of thing, but right now I’d say there’s too many unforced errors out here.”

Of all the mental mistakes at Tuesday’s practice, senior strong safety Otis Wiley said the biggest problem was the offsides penalties committed by the defense.

Wiley said he didn’t know exactly how many times the Spartans jumped offsides, but each time they jumped, they paid for it.

“I can’t even count — we did a lot of up-downs for them, so many,” Wiley said of the number of penalties.

At the first spring practice on March 18, Dantonio said his goal was to improve 2 percent at each practice, and if his team did so they’d be in pretty good shape.

While the Spartans fell short of that goal in Tuesday’s practice, the players caught on to Dantonio’s message that they need to improve.

“It wasn’t the best first practice for pads, I think we could have done a lot better — we have to shake off a bit of the rust,” senior quarterback Brian Hoyer said. “It definitely wasn’t up to par. We definitely have to get better every day and today we just kind of stayed where we were at and didn’t really take a step forward.”

Got a little captain in you?

Last year’s Spartans relied heavily on senior leadership en route to the program’s first bowl appearance since 2003. Through the first three practices of spring, however, Dantonio said he’s seen “zero” leadership from his seniors.

“We need to see senior leadership — I know that it’s tough on the third day in here and two days in shorts and that type of thing, but some players have earned it and you need to expect it from others,” Dantonio said.

Wiley, who shifted to strong safety from free safety this season, said he wants to be one of the leaders to emerge on the defensive side of the ball.

Although Wiley admitted he’s not a very vocal player, he said there are other ways to assume a leadership role.

“I’m just leading by example, I’m not really a vocal guy,” Wiley said. “By leading by example — doing the right things, listening to coaches or doing my keys and getting my stuff right. Communicating on the field is the most key to leadership.”

March Madness

The MSU men’s basketball team’s Sweet 16 run has caught the eye of a few MSU football players, mainly because of the two team’s similar styles.

“Coach (Tom) Izzo’s got them playing that hard-nosed defense, and that’s what Coach D’s all about too — we have a hard-nosed defense,” Wiley said.

Although he likes MSU’s defense, Wiley wouldn’t offer a prediction for the outcome of the game, saying he had “no clue.”

Dantonio also said he’s been watching a few of the games, but like Wiley, he said he’s not sitting in front of the TV as an armchair coach.

“I’ve watched a little bit, been watching the Spartans,” Dantonio said.

“I watch as a fan — I don’t know enough to watch as a coach.”